Watch as every world leader at the G20 Summit declines to shake President George Bush’s hand during a group photo op. As CNN’s Rick Sanchez puts it, this is almost sad.
Watch as every world leader at the G20 Summit declines to shake President George Bush’s hand during a group photo op. As CNN’s Rick Sanchez puts it, this is almost sad.
well, it doesn’t look like he’s exactly TRYING to shake their hands and then being snubbed. Looks like a mutual dislike to me.
yeah, mutual dislike is muuuuch better…
he didn’t even shake one hand. not one ally in the room.
I agree Melanie
I don’t know if this applies to this situation, but some protocol in these situations dictate that if the attendees have shook hands previously than to shake hands again is a no-no. I recently found this to be true viewing a documentary of the British royals and wonder if it applies here as well.
Keith,
Please don’t confuse the issue with facts, dang ya. I savored this much more to think that the bully is getting his just desserts.
I wonder if anyone will pay money in a couple of months to have Bush be a keynote speaker….
Daily Show had a clip edited together of him greeting each person at the door, handshake included. I think Keith must be right—I was already guessing it was something like that before I read his comment.
Not that I am defending the actions but it looks more like Bush didn’t want to shake hands. I might be another example of his paranoia; similar to his bringing his own food and toilet rumor.
According to CNN: Bush didn’t get snubbed at all, it turns out. He had already greeted most of these leaders, including a number of photo ops that Moos includes in this report. The handshakes we see in Sanchez’ clip occurred with leaders who had not already met for a grip-and-grin before the group shot.
Hey, even Angela Merkel posed with Bush and smiled while he grabbed her hand … and only her hand. Silvio Berlusconi held Bush’s hand as they strolled off the dais. Everyone seemed cheery around Bush, even with the economy diving into a teacup this week.
Turns out this is just another non-story that has everybody hyperventilating…
Kind of reminds me of the recent debate between John McCain and President Elect Barack Obama. I have to agree with the last comment… Bush probably didn’t want to shake hands. He probably didn’t even want to be there and is just counting the days till he’s finished at the Whitehouse.
I agree with the people who believe Bush didn’t want to shake hands with the other leaders. And what for? To placate those people who think he’s the one being snubbed? POTUS is the most thankless job in the world. I’m sure Bush is happier than his most ardent haters that he’s done with his term.
Not sure what to make of this clip…
It’s true that Bush is either disliked or reviled in the G20 and every other world leader is just waiting to start dealing with Obama. But these guys shake hands with people they hate for a living. It’s part of a politician’s job description. In their daily planners somewhere between breakfast and foreign policy meeting there’s a “shake hands with Farrah who if she were on fire, I wouldn’t pee on to put it out.”
And Bush is walking to his place, not looking at anybody, head down, marching with no desire to shake anyone’s anything and the other leaders are ignoring him as if to say “good riddance.”
There’s definitely tension spilling out but it’s probably mutual.
I don’t blame him, most of these scum I wouldn’t shake hands with either. Fret, fret, fret, oh my god, the world hates us. But when they want something, they’re right at our doorstep. Could not care less whether they like us or not–I’m not particularly in love with most of them either. I suspect that many Bush haters will be in for a great disappointment with their new demigod since he already has his mouthpieces out warning people not to expect much.
He didn’t try to shake their hands. CNN makes an issue about nothing.
I think this is definitely a case of interpreting what you want to interpret from the brief video clip John B. You have plenty of legitimate ammunition to use against President Bush (or against any president for that matter), so stick to facts instead of speculation.
Well, George W. Bush should have read the book How to Make Friends and Influence People 🙂 One thing that struck me: how he seems oblivious to anything or any person outside of his inner circle. I remember when Canada’s Prime Minister had an official visit and Bush called him “Steve” (his first name is Stephen and he never refers to himself as Steve). Isn’t knowing at least the name of the head of state visiting you a prerequisite for building good ties with people. And, with the case of Stephen, it is an English name, so language would not have been an issue. Then, he had that odd habit of giving people idiotic nicknames. This is what I expect from a high school jock, not a world leader.
Bush had previously used sanitizing hand cleaner immediately following a handshake round at the G20, and expressed he didn’t want to spread a cold going around White House offices. This had already been reported (wasn’t the first time — he did it with Obama at the White House as well).
People ought to truly follow world events if they’re going to nit-pick “”the news,” or maybe just quit trying to write in their own prejudices against the President.